A TASTE OF CHICAGO

A TASTE OF CHICAGO; Stand-Up Food in a City of Big Appetites

Published: April 14, 2004

Correction Appended

(Page 3 of 3)

Next year, Smidt's is planning to move a few blocks, to Indianapolis Boulevard, where it started in business in the Taft administration. But the owners promise to keep the fabulous sweet-tart gooseberry pie on the menu.

WHEN I was a grade-schooler in Ohio, my mother's morning entertainment was a radio program called ''The Breakfast Club,'' broadcast from Chicago. Chicago was an ideal origination point; it has always liked big morning feeds.

The most beloved breakfast items in town, I would wager, are the cinnamon buns at Ann Sather's. When you walk into the original Sather's, a few blocks west of Lincoln Park, you walk right into the 1930's. Crystal chandeliers and murals in the style of Carl Larsson await you, as well as a menu loaded with temptation -- thin, scallop-edged Swedish waffles, seven kinds of eggs Benedict (one made with steak!) and those buns. A pair comes to almost every table, unbelievably fluffy, with thick, sugary glaze flowing down the sides.

As old-fashioned as Sather's is, the Bongo Room in trendy Wicker Park is day-after-tomorrow hip, with blond wood, bare floors and pale-green walls. Its breakfasts follow suit, featuring creations like pumpkin-spice pancakes with bourbon-pecan butter, brioche French toast with three-apple compote and omelets with your choice of 25 fillings, including a dozen first-class cheeses.

I settled for a glass of memorably sweet, icy orange juice, a mellow double espresso and a breakfast burrito the size of Sammy Sosa's forearm, stuffed with scrambled eggs and guacamole, with sour cream and cheese on top and salsa and crusty hash-browns on the side. They have Bunyanesque appetites, these Chicagoans. I blush to report that I failed to clean my plate.

Frango mints, a century-old Midwestern favorite, are no longer made on the 13th floor of Marshall Field's State Street flagship store, as they were for more than 70 years. Mayor Richard M. Daley expressed alarm when production was transferred to Dunmore, Pa., in 1999; you might have thought Altoona had swiped Da Bears. But they still taste like Chicago to me -- irresistible little cubes of dark, peppermint-infused chocolate that melt slowly on the tongue.

Which just about covers the Windy City's proletarian food, except for Chicago (i.e., deep-dish) pizza. I guess you either adore or abhor the stuff; I'm in the second group, having formed an early passion for Neapolitan-style pizza, with a thin crust, tomato sauce and sparingly applied cheese.

I tried a couple of pizzerias here that bravely defend the Old Country way of doing things, using wood ovens and minimizing the glop, but they weren't very special and of course they weren't very Chicago, either. I stand ready to apologize for my inadequacies in Cook County's court of public opinion. But I can't help agreeing with a highly regarded local chef, a lifetime Chicago resident, who told me, after imploring me not to mention him by name lest he be run out of town for his perfidy, ''There are a dozen pizza-by-the-slice joints in New York that beat any pizza in Chicago hands down.''

Photos: NOSH, NOSH, NOSH -- Sautéed frogs' legs in melted butter, above, at Phil Smidt & Son in Hammond, Ind., a Chicago suburb. Top left, the cinnamon buns at Ann Sather's, a chandeliered breakfast spot a few blocks from Lincoln Park. Al's, left, which started in 1938, slices beef extra-thin and serves it with either roasted bell peppers or a hot mix of vegetables. Every table is full, below, for lunch at Hot Doug's.; DOGVILLE -- Polish sausages on the grill, above, at Fluky's, which is famous for topping them with salad. Left, Lem's, on the South Side of Chicago, serves barbecue ribs with its own hot or mild sauces. (Photographs by Peter Thompson for The New York Times)(pg. F3); ONIONS ON YOUR ELK? -- Doug Sohn with an elk sausage with jalapeños and Cheddar at his hot-dog stand. (Photo by Peter Thompson for The New York Times)(pg. F1)

Correction: April 21, 2004, Wednesday An article last Wednesday about the popularity of hot dogs and other quick foods in Chicago incorrectly described the all-beef hot dogs served in New York by Katz's Delicatessen and the Gray's Papaya chain. Their hot dogs are not kosher.